Indrea’s Induction

Rev Helen Roud

Acts 8:26-39; Luke 5:1-11

Indrea’s Induction as Vicar of Ashburton and Archdeacon for Mid-Canterbury
3pm Sunday 20th November 2022

Homily

‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch’….Put out, into the deep…
I’ve been thinking a lot, lately, about the ‘C-word’… not thinking of catch or cancer...or Christmas…or even my old favourites, coffee and chocolate, but – that other C-word ‘CHANGE’.  The age-old joke ‘How many Anglicans does it take to change a lightbulb?’ Change?.. Change?!!  can bring a knowing smile to our faces as we perhaps recall the challenges of change over our life time, whether at a personal level or as Church.

At last month’s ‘Leading Your Church into Growth’ Conference, one particular statement resonated strongly with me: ‘Living things grow, and growing things change’……‘Living things grow, and growing things change’

Each one of us no doubt has different responses when hearing the word ‘change’.  For some, change is identified with challenge, discomfort, threat or powerlessness. For others, it evokes feelings of excitement, relief, or anticipation at yet-to-be-discovered new possibilities.

I recently visited my daughter and two young granddaughters in their newly-acquired home in Motueka and experienced all of the above – challenge, discomfort, threat, powerlessness, excitement, relief, anticipation….and that was just on the flight to Nelson! But any of you who are grandparents (or with other young family connections) will identify with the changes experienced in children as they grow…and as they confront us with our own changes:

“Grandma, how old are you? (examining the wrinkles on my neck) You must be older than grandad cos he doesn’t have wrinkles” (NOT true). Even Panther, their cat, who has seamlessly integrated into three changes of home in recent months, baulked at my appearance on the scene – with five-year-old granddaughter confidently explaining “Oh grandma, Panther isn’t used to old people.”

‘Living things grow, and growing things change’ (we could identify our world champion Black Ferns rugby team with that statement!)

‘Put out into the deep’. ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch’

The invitations, nay, commands from the lips of Jesus in today’s gospel reading bid not only change of action, but change of heart in Simon Peter and his partners. Jesus, a Nazareth-raised carpenter, calls the experienced fishermen to do the unthinkable – to let down their nets in daytime...after a long, tiring and surprisingly unfruitful night’s fishing.

I wonder what Jesus had been teaching the crowds from Simon’s boat on the shore’s edge? And I wonder, as Simon listened to Jesus, what was going through his mind?  Was his wind and storm-tossed heart being softened and opened in readiness for his call? The hefty, net-breaking catch brought forth from the deep, elicited an overwhelming response from Simon Peter: ‘he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’  But Jesus’ response is now very familiar to us: ‘Do not be afraid (x2); …..from now on you will be catching people.’  And what did they do? ‘they left everything and followed him’.

The parish of Ashburton (and the archdeaconry of Mid-Canterbury) are facing change. You have a new vicar and a new archdeacon. ‘Do not be afraid’!!
For, in The Venerable Indrea, you have a tenaciously faithful, creative, resilient, joyful, adventurous and Godly woman and priest. How do I know that? Well, I’ve shared the challenge of hiking the hills and valleys of parish boundaries with her (I’m not offering to do that in Ashburton or mid-Canterbury, by the way, Indrea!). I’ve had the pleasure of kayaking Lyttelton harbour, clowning in Cathedral Square, co-running an Anglican Pacifist Fellowship conference, praying & perspiring together for a week in the 40-plus degree heat of the Taizé Community in France, climbing the Eiffel Tower and pounding the pavements of Paris for 24 hours with her, for starters!

Indrea is well-acquainted with change and not afraid of initiating it (collaboratively), when the call of God invites it. She and supportive husband Neville, are not afraid of putting out into deep water and in partnership, trying something new (even if it might initially seem ludicrous, as it must have seemed that morning for Simon Peter and his fishing partners). Your new vicar and archdeacon will most certainly call upon you to partner her in God’s mission in Ashburton and beyond. She will serve you faithfully as pastor, prophet and priest. (Just make sure she takes her breaks too!)

Indrea, I’m aware that you are not averse to engaging with hitch-hikers as you travel the highways and byways of Te Waipounamu, and no doubt will continue to be a ‘Philip’ like the apostle Philip in our first reading, who ‘got up and went’ when prompted. You will no doubt continue to meet seekers on wilderness roads, needing someone to guide them:  those who might have lost their faith, become disenchanted with ‘the Church’ or those who are trying to make sense of the spiritual wildernesses confronting them through the barrage of today’s social media. As both vicar and archdeacon, you will be an encourager of others across your parish and archdeaconry to be ‘Philips’ as you remain attentive to God’s guidance and prompting, as you journey alongside others – colleagues, parishioners and seekers – as you teach, proclaim and baptise, gently yet intentionally growing God’s kingdom through prayer, presence, proclamation and persuasion!

So together, vicar and parish of Ashburton, archdeacon and archdeaconry of Mid-Canterbury, may you continue to live and grow on the good foundations of your past, as you embrace the changes of the present and the call of God into your future.

Do not be afraid to put out into the deep.